Guerlain by Emilio Pucci Terra Azzurra Bronzer & Blush ($75/ .56 oz.) is Guerlain’s complex and beautiful summer offering. This product displays a very high level of care, design, and attention. In many ways, the beauty of the product was thoughtful in both its creation, display, and the high quality of this finely-milled, beautiful powder. First, the presentation includes a blue-Pucci patterned inner box and fabric sleeve.

The bronzer is housed in a wood-composite round compact, which is comparatively lightweight but still substantial enough to feel luxurious.

The domed compact is embossed with lettering “Geurlain by Emilio Pucci” and relies on a magnet closure:

The compact has a mirror inside. The bronzer pattern includes a narrow strip of highlighter on the outer edge, two blush strips (one orange, one fuchsia violet), and a large section of a pale, pearly bronzer.

It’s very easy to pick up the blush separately from the bronzer on a brush. However, it’s nearly impossible to pick up the highlighter or bronzer strips separately unless one uses an unlikely choice, such an eyeshadow brush.

The compact is large, in line with other limited edition Guerlain bronzers of years past that come in similar compacts:

Swatches of the highlighter, the two blushes and the bronzer, and then all products mixed. I found that the blushes are highly pigmented, and the bronzer is subtle. When the powders are mixed, the blushes strongly predominate the mix. The combination of the orange and violet seem to create a fruit punch color that reminds me a bit of the formerly released Geurlain Series Noir Blush G.

As you can see, the bronzer is golden and light. Those with deeper skin tones may find that the bronzer is too light for their skin tone. On Megan, you can see how the blush tones predominate. I found a similar effect on me:

The quality of the product is amazing. There’s really no discussion that Guerlain is a master in powdered bronzer, and this bears all of the hallmarks of a beautiful presentation treasure. I typically use a small headed brush (a MAC 168) to apply the bronzer first, and then the blush on the upper cheek. As an all-in-one product, it’s a beautiful compact to place on your makeup table. Although the pouch is fun, this isn’t something that I’d travel with as the top might come loose under the rigors of airline baggage travel (although I would put it into an overnight bag).

Guerlain has numerous bronzers, including the permanent Blondes and Brunettes bronzers with the iconic mosaic pattern surface. As someone with a lighter skin tone, I found that Guerlain Blondes, although recommended for those in my coloring range, was too subtle for my personal taste. I gifted mine to Liz, who I suspect rarely uses it.

This summer, Guerlain’s limited edition Terracotta collection includes two new shades, Guerlain Terracotta Sun Blondes (04) and Sun Brunettes (05) ($50 each), which are stronger versions of the permanent shades.

Longtime brand fans might remember Guerlain Terracotta Blondes Hâlées released in 2o10. I found that the 2012 Terracotta Sun Blondes and Blondes Hâlées are remarkably similar. You can see the same mosaic pattern in this comparison between my new Sun Blondes and my well-worn Blondes Hâlées:

The difference that you see in the above picture is because the Blondes Hâlées on the right is well-used. If the products were both in the same condition, they would be quite similar.

Swatched side by side, they both shared the similar pink-bronze tones, and a very similar texture. I found that the Blondes Hâlées swatched slightly darker. The difference was so subtle that I felt some might be due to the fact that my Blondes Hâlées is quite well-used by now. The powder might simply come off more easily on the more worn product. Both applied heavily:

I’m going to call these “close enough” to be duplicates. You should note that we tried to apply Sun Blondes on Megan, but given her medium skin tone we found Sun Blondes too light. Those with skin tones roughly NC30 and higher should explore Sun Brunettes (05) instead.

I really love this more pigmented version of the Guerlain Blondes bronzer. It has enough tone, looks natural, and has a touch of textural glow that I find very flattering. The pink tones don’t substitute for a blush, but sometimes I wear the bronzer alone for a very natural glow. If I hadn’t worn down so much of my Blondes Hâlées, I might have skipped Sun Blondes. However, I do use my bronzers up all the way to the bottom pan, so I know I’ll get good use out of this years version.

I love the quality of Guerlain Terracotta bronzers, but I find the variety confusing. With 8 shades in their standard Moisturizing line, plus the variations such as the 4 Seasons, Mineral Flawless, loose Bronzing Powder, Tan Booster and Tan Booster, plus the limited edition shades, there is a lot to track.

I just received this brochure from Neiman Marcus, which helps decode the color system from the standard Terracotta Moisturizing and Long Lasting line:

Even better, I found Guerlain has set up a site that helps you choose your perfect bronzer from their entire range, located here. You put in your hair and skin tone, then choose the level of shimmer or matte that you prefer. Pretty cool, right? I’m feeling so bronzer-empowered.